A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Cosi fan Tutte

COSI FAN TUTTE, ossia La scuola degli amanti. An opera buffa in two acts, commanded by the Emperor, libretto by Da Ponte, music by Mozart; produced at Vienna Jan. 26, 1790; London, King's Theatre, May 9, 1811. The libretto is so bad and the music so good that various attempts have been made to fit the opera with new words, as 'Le Laboureur Chinois' (1807), 'Peines d'amour perdues' (Barbier & Carré, 1863). Otto Jahn possessed a MS. Mass made up from it. In England it was translated as 'Tit for Tat.' [App. p.600 "it was also produced as 'The Retaliation' at the Theatre Royal, English Opera House (Lyceum), April 14, 1841. 'Tit for tat' was produced at the English Opera House, July 29, 1828."] The German version is entitled Weibertreue.